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Making Foundations Relevant: Conversations with 21st Century Leaders in Philanthropy

The second major report of the Philanthropy Awareness Initiative is entitled Making Foundations Relevant: Conversations with 21st Century Leaders in Philanthropy (37 page PDF). This report, which follows on the heels of the previous quantitative analysis of media coverage, is a qualitative analysis of what foundations leaders have to say about the topic of philanthropy in the media. Their findings include: a lack of a clearly established role for foundations in American society, a lack of connection with their audiences - the most important of which is grantees, avoidance of the limelight out of deferance to those grantees, institutional character that limits the ability to be proactive, and a lack of a clear and compelling motivation to change public perception. Posted: 6/3/07; 6:43:27 PM #

Media Reform: Is it a Free-Standing Social Movement? Should it be?

The latest issue of Drum Beat asks a very interesting question about Media Reform: Is it a Free-Standing Social Movement? Philip M. Napoli (who is also the author of "Public Interest Media Activism and Advocacy as a Social Movement) argues that although media reform is deeply entwined with other civil society objectives, it is not simply an extension of them. His four main points in support of this are: (1) The increased prominence of new communication technologies in all aspects of political, cultural, and economic life merits a dedicated, free-standing social movement. (2) If media reform is conceptualized as subordinate to other social movements, then its success depends in large part upon developing successful linkages with these movements, which hasn't happened to a sufficient extent since the Sixties. (3) There is a wide range of critical media policy issues that may have dramatic implications for the public good, but that may not have implications that necessarily resonate with broader umbrella social movements. (4) A mainstream media environment more conducive to the coverage of social movements may not be as important to social movements today as in years past. Posted: 6/3/07; 6:32:05 PM #